A riveting personal exploration of the healthcare crisis facing inner-city communities, written by an emergency room physician who grew up in the very neighborhood he is now serving Sampson Davis is best known as one of three friends from inner-city Newark who made a pact in high school to become doctors. Their book The Pact and their work through the Three Doctors Foundation have inspired … Foundation have inspired countless young men and women to strive for goals they otherwise would not have dreamed they could attain. In this book, Dr. Davis looks at the healthcare crisis in the inner city from a rare perspective: as a doctor who works on the front line of emergency medical care in the community where he grew up, and as a member of that community who has faced the same challenges as the people he treats every day. He also offers invaluable practical advice for those living in such communities, where conditions like asthma, heart disease, stroke, obesity, and AIDS are disproportionately endemic.
Dr. Davis’s sister, a drug addict, died of AIDS; his brother is now paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair as a result of a bar fight; and he himself did time in juvenile detention—a wake-up call that changed his life. He recounts recognizing a young man who is brought to the E.R. with critical gunshot wounds as someone who was arrested with him when he was a teenager during a robbery gone bad; describes a patient whose case of sickle-cell anemia rouses an ethical dilemma; and explains the difficulty he has convincing his landlord and friend, an older woman, to go to the hospital for much-needed treatment. With empathy and hard-earned wisdom, Living and Dying in Brick City presents an urgent picture of medical care in our cities. It is an important resource guide for anyone at risk, anyone close to those at risk, and anyone who cares about the fate of our cities.
Praise for Living and Dying in Brick City
“A pull-no-punches look at health care from a seldom-heard sector . . . Living and Dying isn’t a sky-is-falling chronicle. It’s a real, gutsy view of a city hospital.”—Essence
“Gripping . . . a prescription to help kids dream bigger than their circumstances, from someone who really knows.”—People
“[Dr. Davis] is really a local hero. His story has inspired so many of our young people, and he’s got his finger on the pulse of what is a challenge in Newark, and frankly all across America. . . . I think his book is going to make a big impact.”—Cory Booker
“Some memoirs are heartfelt, some are informative and some are even important. Few, however, are all three. . . . As rare as it is for a book to be heartfelt, well written and inspirational, it’s even rarer for a critic to say that a book should be required reading. This ought to be included in high school curricula—for the kids in the suburbs who have no idea what life is like in the inner cities, and for the kids in the inner cities to know that there is a way out.”—The Star-Ledger
“Dramatic and powerful.”—New York Daily News
“This book just might save your life. Sampson Davis shares fascinating stories from the E.R. and addresses the inner-city health crisis. His book is an important investment in your most valuable resource: your health.”—Suze Orman, author of The Money Class
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This tale of a local boy who pursued his dreams and became a doctor, and then came back to his hometown to share his expertise, is both eye-opening and inspirational. Although he laments the young lives lost to violence and poverty, the older citizens who can’t afford life-saving treatment, the author never demonizes or criticizes those he treats. His empathy is admirable. Besides the stories of people he interacts with as he treats them, the author provides supplemental material in each chapter that deals with the issue reflected in the story, whether depression or drug addiction or diabetes. He provides explanations, lists of symptoms, and names of organizations that can help. I felt privileged to hear this man’s stories.
Excellent book , informative, personal and from what I have seen in my life quite truthful. As the expression goes “on the money.” Have witnessed similar occurrences in a different city. Will have to read his 1st book, The Pact.
The doctor in this book has many of the characteristics that every nurse abhors in a colleague. Arrogant, and egocentric.
I loved this book. It’s so informative and inspirational. It should be required reading for today’s youth
I love this book, it’s very informative about medical conditions and people. This doctor is real says it “like it is” and he has much compassion for the people he sees in the ER.
This doctor and his childhood friends beat the odds. That alone is inspirational. It is interesting and I would recommend it.
I enjoy medical non-fiction because it gives the reader insight into what medical training and practice involves, not only from a technical standpoint but emotional investment.
in my opinion, author much too self serving, self promoting, arrogant… very little medical info…. waste of my time
From a long-term nurse, believe me that it is a very realistic accounting.
Realistic and gritty.
A heart felt biopic which is also a very informative and instructional medical manual for the average lay person
This book is his third book about himself and his situation. That was a little off putting. He did tie realistic, and common health problems with relatable stories and gave some good resources at the end of each chapter.
This book tells the real truth of life in an ER and also the barriers to success that many of our youth have being raised in an urban setting with limited resources. The author is an inspirational individual who has overcome many obstacles.
This was an awesome book, following the path of an emergency room physician who by all rights coming from a tough neighborhood was unlikely to become the successful care-giver, novelist, husband and more…that he did become. Besides the fascinating cases he faced in his emergency room, the lives he saved, the lives he lost. the work he did to bring leadership, assistance and care to the neighborhood he grew up in, this book has all that and more. Give it a read…
It was not quite what I expected, but it made many good points.
Great insight into a doctor’s life.
Dry, not too interesting